64 - Crescent Lake

Welcome to Episode 64 of the RetroWDW Podcast: "Crescent Lake" - We appreciate your support and hope you have been enjoying each and every episode. Be sure to check out some of our previous shows from over the years. We have visited multiple parks, resorts, and just about everything else in between. We hope you stick with us through 2021 as we bring you some great content that will bring you back to WDW each month.  Enjoy!

Listener Mail

Right to the mailbag this month! The bag is full and we love that! Every month, you can possibly get on the show, so be sure to write to us at podcast@retrowdw.com. Also, top tier donors can even join us on a show! Take a look at how you can join us live on an episode.

1. Dane wrote in about a 1976-1977 channel guide at the Contemporary, which we discussed during our Project 90 episode.
2. Kevin is next up and he found an amazing brochure from the 15 Years of Magic promotion!
3. Kurt sent us a great little piece from the Polynesian that has all of the character autographs.  Thanks for sharing this Kurt, amazing piece of history from 1985!
4. Our next letter is from Nate and he discusses the Houston airport Wedway Peoplemover. Such a fun take on this historical piece that is connected to Disney.
5. Huge thanks to everybody that called in during our New Year's Eve call-in event. That was so much fun to hear from you all!
6. Finally - Jared.  This is an amazingly detailed and long cast member take from working at Alien Encounter. This is amazing and you have to take in all of the unique details Jared sent our way.

Giveaway Time

Foxx Nolte sent us a copy of her book, Boundless Realm: Deep Exploration Inside Disney's Haunted Mansion
If you would like to win a copy of this book, send us your name - contest@retrowdw.com - use the subject line "Spooky"....
Best of luck and thanks for the amazing book Foxx! All entries due 2/8/2021.

Main Topic

We take you to Crescent Lake this month and we couldn't be more excited. This area is an entire vacation in itself, housing multiple resorts, restaurants, boating and so much more. If you are a regular to this area or your home resort is over here, this episode will be right up your alley. Most of us have stayed in at least one of these resorts with varying opinions. Throughout this episode, we will get into the history, mindset and much more throughout the era these places were constructed. 
Everybody has a part in this episode with Brian starting us off regarding hotel occupancy and why this area was even needed. 

Throughout the episode, we touch on design and architecture. This was key in the development of the Swan & Dolphin, which created many urban legends, myths and pre-internet 'fan chatter'. We have searched all over for a variety of sources to debunk or prove these rumors, so you won't want to skip these parts as we discuss. Yesterland provided us with some of these details this month, along with lots of digging into newspaper articles from back in this era. The Dolphin has a super unique design, with an almost unusable peak. Learn the secrets of this area and at the same time, take a look at the presidential suite up top!

In the past, we have touched on Yacht & Beach Club through various letters and discussions. Going to the Wayback Machine, we found this great site that isn't too vintage, but the pictures scream 1991 by their coloring and also just the old decor of the Yacht/Beach. This site is definitely worth a look, as it is the original from the architect, Robert A.M. Stern. We also discuss how Michael Eisner and how he had his hand in much of this, mostly the Yacht & Beach. Almost two years ago, David Carver reached out to confirm the freshwater fish in Stormalong Bay - he happened to be staying there when they were having issues.  Read the full text right here - thank you David!

Any trip to Crescent Lake isn't complete without a visit to the Boardwalk Inn. Our original Boardwalk vacationers give us their take on this resort and we all had one gripe regarding the layout. During this time, we talk about some of the various venues at the Boardwalk, like The Attic and what that is all about. We also get into an amazing discussion with a former tram driver who made his rounds before the Boardwalk arrived. One fun fact of these trams: they used to be the ones that drove guests around Fort Wilderness, which is super cool to hear!  Take a look at this video, which shows the route around the area. This episode is full - covering about five resorts, transportation, attractions and so much more. We hope you enjoy and let us know if you have any fun stories from Crescent Lake.

2021: Year Two of The Film

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Next Month

• Join us next time for Episode 65, where we take you back on another fun episode about WDW history!
  
• We have another movie night coming soon too...  Subscribe on YouTube so you are ready.